Second stage of first Almaty subway underway

Construction of the second stage of the first subway line started in Almaty, Tengrinews.kz journalist reports. Akim (Mayor) of Almaty Akhmetzhan Yessimov personally inspected the construction process. He was accompanied by his deputy Viktor Dolzhenkov, director of Almatymetrokurylys (subway-construction company) Murat Ukshebayev and head of Almaty Passenger Transport and Roads Department Vladimir Merenkov. The mayor took a subway train and went through all seven stations, from the final station Alatau located on Abai street between Zharokov and Gagarin streets to the very first station called “Raiymbek batyr” at Furmanov and Raimbek streets crossing. According to preliminary calculations the subway is capable of servicing up to 300 thousand passengers a day, said Merenkov. One trip will cost at least 70 tenge (50 cents). Yessimov was of a high opinion about the completed works and said that run-in tests of the trains and adjustment of control system will start in May-June. “Head of the state came to Almaty recently. Nazarbayev was surprised with a small quantity of cars on the roads and a fresh air in the city. I said that we had had five days of banking holidays and that is why there were fewer cars than usually,” said Yessimov. That is why the role of subway is very important in a big city, he continued. "The government allocated 2.5 billion tenge (more than $17 million) for construction of the first stage of the second line,” said the mayor. He expressed confidence that all the construction works will be completed by October this year. Seven trains will be cruising the subway, four cars in each train. The carriages will be equipped with video surveillance and different security systems. But mobile phones will not operate underground in the subway. “Alternative communication means will be available in cases of emergency,” said Merenkov. The subway is scheduled to start operating in December 2011. Dolzhenkov added that it is quite possible that Almaty will be connected to its suburbs with a subway railroad in the near future. “It possible that a subway will connect Almaty and its suburbs; this would greatly ease the traffic pressure on the roads and improve the environment,” said deputy mayor. By Roza Yesenkulova